Being a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it’s valuable in a marathon.

The more I help out, the more successful I become. But I measure success in what it has done for the people around me. That is the real accolade.

Most people believe that great leaders are distinguished by their ability to give compelling answers. This profound book shatters that assumption, showing that the more vital skill is asking the right questions…. Berger poses many fascinating questions, including this one: What if companies had mission questions rather than mission statements? This is a book everyone ought to read—without question.

When you put off a task, you buy yourself time to engage in divergent thinking rather than foreclosing on one particular idea.

Good guys are most likely to finish last, but also most likely to finish first.

If we want a better original idea, we must generate our own before we screen others' suggestions.

This is what I find most magnetic about successful givers: they get to the top without cutting others down, finding ways of expanding the pie that benefit themselves and the people around them. Whereas success is zero-sum in a group of takers, in groups of givers, it may be true that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.